Aloha everyone, hope all is well!
John, hope you're enjoying the Moai! Thanks again for supporting my art and sharing it with TC. Hope you had a great anniversary trip to da Big Island.
Thanks, Wendy! The tall one is three pieces that I threw on the wheel and put together.
As usual, I've been making lots of stuff and am too burned out to post it.

Some of my last projects have been to re-sculpt some of my sold, hand built pieces, so they're more mold friendly, and to cast them. This step-by-step isn't as complete as I would've liked, but I've already got the pictures uploaded, so here it goes.

First, is the original piece that I re-sculpted. It's one of the pieces going to the Polynesian Resort in Florida.
His name is Birdman 2. There's also a Birdman 1 and Birdman 3, so I guess it'll be a series.

Hi Hiltiki, thanks for stopping by! The coconut planters are lots of fun. I was taking a wheel throwing class and learned how to make fully enclosed vessels, and figured, I make coconut mugs, why not some planters, lidded jars, etc?

Hey TikiAno, great getting to meet in person! Thank you for stopping by and introducing yourself, it was great getting a chance to talk clay. Anytime you have a moment to post a pic of the mug, that would be awesome! Mahalo for the support! If I don't see you roaming around on Friday, at Oasis, I'll be vending at the car show on Saturday and Sunday.

So, a long time ago, six months maybe, haha, I sculpted a Maori warrior bust. In May, I broke down and had the professional mold makers at Laguna Clay, make me a 5 piece mold, for this monster of a mug, vase, sculpture, whatever you want to call it. Here are a few different samples. They're 10" inches tall, but about 7.5" inches wide. They hold 75 ounces, haha.

The big mold, in front, is the professionally made one from Laguna. The rest are mine and the space in back is my clean-up are for casting, with a spot for green ware to dry.

The molds hold just under two gallons of casting slip, and the they weigh about 60 pounds, so they're lots of fun to empty, when they're full of slip. They actually weighed closer to 100 pounds when I got them back from Laguna. I picked them up the day after they were made, so they were still full of water. Obviously, I didn't have the patience for the water to evaporate out of the plaster, so the first few rounds of pouring were really fun.

This is a bowl from the potter's wheel. It started as 8 pounds of clay. I think it measures about 10" inches across the top. I like how the area around the designs is recessed, but it warped a little, which kinda bums me out.

Here's how I made my "Pearl de Marquesas" Tiki mug.
The plan wasn't to make a mold of it, I just liked the piece so much when it was finished, I figured, just go for it. I think it was the symmetry in the face.

Anyhow, the original piece was a fully enclosed vessel that I threw on the potter's wheel. It already looks to have a beautiful Marquesan shape. At this point, it is already leather hard. I've also trimmed a foot in the bottom and trimmed some clay off the sides, to give it a more slender look.

From here, it's all carving. I didn't add any clay.

Had I known I was going to make a mold of this, I would've done it as bisque ware, pictured below. Instead, I glazed it, taking away some of the detail in the grooves, then made a mold. I'm not sure how much time this costs me per piece, but in the long run, I'm sure it's quite a bit. Just something to keep in mind for those of you who might want to try making a mold. Another thing that might've cost me some time, was all the sculpting wax, in areas, that looked like they could've had under cuts.

Here, I'm starting to make a mold box. It's going to be a three-sided mold, so the plaster will be poured over this area, once I build the box around this and seal the sides. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of all that.
But, the mold worked! or separated, anyway...

Next time, I'll post how they look coming out of the mold. There's lots of clean-up work. THanks for stopping by!

I also wanted to thank everyone who made it out to The International Tiki Market Place at Don the Beachcomber's this past weekend. It was a great time catching up with old friends and making new ones. For those of you who stopped by to say hi or purchase a piece of my art, thank you very much, the support is greatly appreciated.

Aloha Hang10, Wendy, and GROG!
Always great seeing you guys around these parts I've been swamped trying to get things ready for Oasis and it's been crazy.
I poured and cleaned 60-65 castings last week and will be glazing them this week. Luckily, I still have some pieces left from the Tonga Hut show and the last ITMP, so I should have about 80 mugs spread between the three different Birdman designs, Tahitian Tower, Pearl de Marquesas, and Kaitiaki. I'll also have 3 PNG lamps, a couple Hawaiian lamps, and a Marquesan lamp, with a few bowls I threw on the potter's wheel, and one or two handbuilt pieces.

I'll be sure to start posting pics as they're finishing, as well as some progress pics. I'll also post my piece from the Tonga Hut art show and my awesome "Best in Sepik" ribbon, made by Eric October.

Mike, great seeing you at Oasis- your booth was great, hope sales went well (I fully admit to not buying any ceramics throughout the weekend- though I love looking through the killer work you're doing). Great variety of work, and as Grog wrote (earlier) it all looks WAY better in person (if that's even possible).